John Rich Dispels Big & Rich Breakup Rumors

You know that old saying, "opposites attract"? Perhaps the best musical example of that, at least in country music, is the teaming of John Rich and Big Kenny.

"Big & Rich is the most unlikely pairing of human beings you could possibly come up with," John tells The Atlantic City Press. "Kenny says, 'I love everybody.' I say, 'Screw everybody.'"

Both John and Big Kenny have spent the last year working on solo albums, after Kenny needed some time to heal from serious injuries he sustained in a car wreck. John released 'Son of a Preacher Man' in March, and Big Kenny will release 'The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy' next month. "You have to get the music you write out of your system," John says of their individual projects. "I write songs like 'Shuttin' Detroit Down' that are calling out the man. That would never be a Big & Rich song, because Kenny would never say that."

John also used the opportunity to write songs that were more personal. "There's one song about my grandfather -- it's my grandfather, not Kenny's grandfather. There are songs about my dad on there, songs about my point of view on things that Kenny doesn't share. The only way to put it out was as a solo entity. When Kenny said he was taking a year off, I took advantage of it."

Still, fans of the duo can rest easy. Already working on a 2010 Big & Rich tour and possibly another album, John says they have a long career ahead of them. "Any time you take that much time off the road, rumors are so crazy that it's over," he explains. "If you would have seen the shows this summer, you would have understood Big & Rich is nowhere near being over."